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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

A Community of Outliers [Introduction]

The opening chapter of Outliers is "interesting and revealing," one of our participants noted.

Malcolm Gladwell opens his book with a narrative about this small town
Roseto, Pennsylvania, where residents seemed to have an unusual
predisposition for good health. During the 1950s, hardly anyone under
age sixty-five had heart disease in Roseto, even though heart attacks
“were an epidemic in the United States” and “the leading cause of death
in men under the age of sixty-five.”

According to Gladwell, the citizens of Roseto had “created a powerful,
protective social structure capable of insulating them from the
pressures of the modern world. The Rosetans were healthy because of
where they were from, because of the world they had created for
themselves in their tiny little town in the hills.”

What insight did you gain about the role of community in the development of outliers?

21 comments:

The role of community in the development of outliers is important. In most other communities around the country the role of community is not as big of a deal but in the small town it had managed to make these people happier and healthier in a way that the rest of the country couldn't be.Kahli C.

The insight that I gained from this piece is pretty much a confirmation that you are who you surround yourself around. Being from Chicago, I know that the people of a community seem to adapt to each other.

Prior to reading the introduction of Outliers, I was somewhat unaware of the profound effect that a community can have on an individual. I realize now, however, that the manner in which individuals choose to communicate and cooperate can impact the well- being of a community as a whole.

What I gained from the role of community is that a strong relationship with the community is very important if you want to maintain good health. This is because relationships and mental health have a drastic effect on the overall health of an individual. Having a close community like the Rosetans kept them all healthier and happier.

What I gained about the role of community is that a strong community is important to one's health. This is because relationships and mental health have a drastic effect on an individual's overall health. Having a close community like the Rosetan's helped keep everyone happy and healthy.Deborrah B.

The insight that I have gained about the role of community that developed Outliers is a slightly religious approach at the start of the introductory chapter. Towards the innermost points of this chapter, the author introduces a primarily medieval style that gains an insight of a community coming together and working as a whole.Overall, I learned that the community of Outliers mastered the practice of adapting and functioning properly as a group.

The first chapter of this book, which discusses the role of community in the development of outliers, used a great example with the town. This example helped me to reflect on my own town, which is very, very small and close-knit. Where i live, everyone knows each other and everyone helps each other out which contributes to the overall happiness of the residents.Peyton D

The first chapter of this book, which discusses the role of community in the development of outliers, used a great example with the town. This example helped me to reflect on my own town, which is very, very small and close-knit. Where i live, everyone knows each other and everyone helps each other out which contributes to the overall happiness of the residents.Peyton D

The first chapter of this book, which discusses the role of community in the development of outliers, used a great example with the town. This example helped me to reflect on my own town, which is very, very small and close-knit. Where i live, everyone knows each other and everyone helps each other out which contributes to the overall happiness of the residents.Peyton D

The introduction showed me that the role of a community has a substantial effect on everyone's health. Surrounding yourself with positivity and not problems from the outside world proved to be essential to the health of the citizens of Roseto. They valued their community and in return got more out of life.

This was extremely insightful for me, in regards to living my life in a better way. I gained pretty much the same insight as Lindsey in regards to you are who you surround yourself with. This really made me think of the phrase "birds of a feather flock together" which is something that is clearly demonstrated with the citizens of Roseto. The stronger the community is the stonger the impact will be on the outlier. So if there is an ample amount of positive engery and people great results will come to be.Alex D.

The opening chapter showed me that the community played a very important role in the lives of the individuals in the small community. Having a strong togetherness causes less problems within a community.

The insight that I have gained is that people from a small community are able to adapt to their surroundings and each other well. Even though the Rosetans were in a place where heart disease was a huge epidemic they were able to live how they would live if they were still in Italy. Because they were what seemed to be a close knitted group, their actions overall benefited their health/way of living.

When you have a smaller group of people, it's easier for them to get along with each other. The rosetans were a prime example of this idea and their strong sense of togetherness is what brought them more happiness along with less stress and less problems

After I reading the outliers , the insight that I gained reinforces a old saying. That saying is you are who you surround yourself with. This is true according to the Outliers because that small town managed to keep each other healthy by keep each other happy.Sierra L.

I find the introduction, or set up, for the book's explanation of what an outliner is and how outliners are created is intriguing. It makes me ponder on whether I have any aspects of an outliner or whether i can incorporate myself into a community of outliners. Though ill have to read the book to find out, im not sure if being an outliner is only based off of the community you surround yourself with or experiences you and others have gone through together that associate with your success or a series of coincidental births that somehow all made each new child successful in their later years. The introduction and the synopsis on the back of the book are interesting but not revealing to any of the questions that this book has prompted from me.